1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners and, more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner designed to effectively clean limited or narrow areas in addition to large and open areas, and to be easily handled and steered at its cleaning tool while cleaning a desired area, thus being convenient to users.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, showing the construction of a conventional canister vacuum cleaner. As shown in the drawing, the conventional vacuum cleaner comprises a body 10, provided with a motorized suction means, with a suction nozzle unit 20 connected to the body 10 by a connection unit and sucking dust-laden air from a surface into the body 10 using suction force generated from the suction means.
The connection unit, which connects the suction nozzle unit 20 to the body 10 and guides dust-laden air from the nozzle unit 20 to said body 10, comprises a flexible hose 11 connected to the air inlet opening of the body 10, a handle 12 mounted to the outside end of hose 11, and an extension pipe 13 connecting the handle 12 to the nozzle unit 20. The nozzle unit 20 thus communicates with the body 10 through the connection unit, and so the suction force of the body 10 acts within the nozzle unit 20, thus sucking dust-laden air from a surface into the nozzle unit 20 and forcibly guiding the sucked air from the nozzle unit 20 into the body 10.
The construction of the nozzle unit 20 in addition to the connection structure for connecting the nozzle unit 20 to the extension pipe 13 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. As shown in the drawings, the nozzle unit 20 has a suction pipe 23, which is hinged to the rear part of a nozzle casing 21 at its front end and is coupled to a connection pipe 24 at its rear end. The above suction pipe 23 is connected to the extension pipe 13 through the connection pipe 24 while communicating with the extension pipe 13.
A suction nozzle 22 is formed at the bottom surface of the nozzle casing 23 at a front portion, and sucks dust-laden air from a surface into the casing 23. The sucked air under pressure from the nozzle casing 21 passes through the suction pipe 23, the connection pipe 24 and the above-mentioned connection unit so as to be finally introduced into the body 10.
In such a nozzle unit 20, the hinged suction pipe 23 is rotatable relative to the nozzle casing 21 so as to be tilted up or down. That is, the suction pipe 23 is hinged to the rear part of the nozzle casing 21 at its hinge shaft 23a as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, thus being rotatable relative to the casing 21 so as to be tilted up or down. Therefore, it is possible to freely adjust the tilted position of the nozzle casing 21 relative to the suction pipe 23 so as to allow the bottom surface of the casing 21 having the suction nozzle 22 to come into contact with a target surface, thus being convenient to a user while cleaning the surface.
As shown in FIG. 2, the connection pipe 24, connected to the rear end of the suction pipe 23, is bent at its middle portion at an obtuse angle. This connection pipe 24 is rotatable relative to the suction pipe 23. This means that the suction pipe 23 is rotatable to the left or right relative to the connection pipe 24.
Therefore, the suction nozzle unit 20 is adjustable in its position relative to the extension pipe 13 in a vertical direction and in a horizontal direction. Since the position of the nozzle unit 20 relative to the extension pipe 13 is adjustable in the vertical and horizontal directions as described above, it is possible to easily carry out desired cleaning work using the vacuum cleaner on a desired area.
However, the above-mentioned conventional vacuum cleaner is problematic as follows:
That is, the nozzle unit 20 of the cleaner regrettably has limitations in its area of application, because the unit 20 has a fixed size and sometimes cannot reach narrow areas, such as crevices and narrow corners. It is thus impossible to clean such narrow areas using the nozzle unit 20.
Therefore, when it is desired to clean such narrow areas, the nozzle unit 20 has to be removed from the connection pipe 24 prior to attaching a proper cleaning tool, such as a crevice tool, a rug brush or a dusting brush, to the connection pipe 24. The conventional vacuum cleaner is thus problematic in that it is necessary to repeatedly remove an existing cleaning tool from the connection pipe 24 prior to attaching a proper cleaning tool to the pipe 24 while cleaning a room having a variety of narrow areas. Such conventional vacuum cleaners thus force manufacturers to separately produce such cleaning tools while increasing production cost, and cause users inconvenience due to repeated removal and attachment of a variety of cleaning tools relative to the connection pipe while cleaning a room.
Another problem experienced in such conventional vacuum cleaners resides in that the nozzle unit 20 is designed to only suck dust-laden air from a surface into the body 10 so as to allow the air to be filtered by a dust bag within the body 10. That is, when it is desired to clean, for example, a rug or a carpet, the nozzle unit 20 cannot accomplish a desired cleaning effect expected from a dusting brush or a rug brush, and so the nozzle unit 20 regrettably has limitations in its cleaning function.
In addition, the nozzle unit 20 of the conventional vacuum cleaner is designed to be tiltable upward or downward by the hinged structure of the suction pipe 23, and tiltable to the left or right by the rotatable connection structure of the suction and connection pipes 23 and 24 as described above. However, such a tiltable structure of the nozzle unit 20 allowed by both the hinged structure of the suction pipe 23 and the rotatable connection structure of the two pipes 23 and 24 regrettably results in inconvenience to users while using the cleaner.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner, which is designed to effectively clean limited or narrow areas in addition to large and open surfaces, such as rugs or carpets, without forcing a user to change an existing cleaning tool with another tool, thus being convenient to users.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner, which is designed to be easily handled and steered at its cleaning tool while cleaning a desired area, thus allowing users to easily and conveniently use the cleaner.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a vacuum cleaner, comprising a body provided with a motorized suction means, a suction nozzle unit for sucking dust-laden air using suction force generated from the suction means, and an extension pipe connecting the suction nozzle unit to the body and directing the dust-laden air under pressure from the suction nozzle unit into the body, wherein the suction nozzle unit comprises: a nozzle casing provided with a suction nozzle for sucking the dust-laden air into the casing, the casing also having a mounting unit provided with a fitting bore communicating with the suction nozzle; a hollow suction pipe removably fitted into the fitting bore, with a dusting brush part formed along a lower edge thereof; a locking means for removably locking the suction pipe to the mounting unit of the nozzle casing; and a connection means for connecting the suction pipe to the extension pipe while allowing the suction pipe to be tiltable upward and downward and horizontally rotatable relative to the extension pipe.
In the above vacuum cleaner, the locking means comprises: a locking hole formed on the sidewall of the hollow suction pipe; a locking bolt removably inserted into the locking hole of the suction pipe so as to lock the suction pipe to the mounting unit of the nozzle casing; a biasing means for normally biasing the locking bolt into the locking hole of the suction pipe; and a releasing means for selectively releasing the locking bolt from the locking hole so as to allow the suction pipe to be removable from the fitting bore of the nozzle casing.
In an embodiment, the releasing means comprises an outside handle integrated with the locking bolt and projected outside the mounting unit of the nozzle casing, with a junction of the locking bolt and the outside handle hinged to a predetermined portion within the mounting unit at a hinged joint such that the locking bolt is rotatable around the hinged joint to be removable from the locking hole when the outside handle is pressed down.
In another embodiment, the releasing means comprises: an inclined step formed on the sidewall of the locking bolt; an actuator having an inclined surface and coming into movable contact with the inclined step at its inclined surface; and an actuating means for selectively moving the actuator downward relative to the locking bolt, whereby the locking bolt is movable outward in a horizontal direction to be removable from the locking hole of the suction pipe when the actuator is pressed down.
In such a case, the actuating means comprises a press button integrated with the actuator and partially projected outside the top wall of the nozzle casing.
In the vacuum cleaner, the connection means comprises: a connection pipe connected to the extension pipe while communicating with the extension pipe; and a connector coupled to the connection pipe while communicating with the connection pipe, the connector being also coupled to the suction pipe, whereby the connector is hinged to the connection pipe at a hinged joint so as to be tiltable around the hinged joint relative to the connection pipe, and partially and interiorly engages with the suction pipe such that the suction pipe is horizontally rotatable relative to the connector in opposite directions.
In the vacuum cleaner, the connection pipe is provided with a domed end part opened at its lower end, while the connector is provided with a domed upper part partially opened at its upper portion. The domed end part of the connection pipe is movably seated within the domed upper part of the connector.
The present invention allows a user to clean a desired area using the nozzle casing coupled to the suction pipe or using the suction pipe free from the nozzle casing. Therefore, the vacuum cleaner of this invention does not force a user to change an existing cleaning tool with another tool even when it is desired to clean a limited or narrow area that does not allow use of the nozzle casing during a cleaning operation. This vacuum cleaner is thus convenient to users.